標題: Asteroid danger: NASA and ESA to team up for world-saving asteroid deflection mission 副標題: ASTEROID experts from around the world will join up for the world's first planetary defence mission that could save lives across the globe if successful. By GERRARD KAONGA PUBLISHED: 09:20, Tue, Sep 3, 2019 | UPDATED: 09:21, Tue, Sep 3, 2019 https://youtu.be/8PIwxKma1tw Asteroid researchers and spacecraft engineers from the US, Europe and around the world will gather in Rome next week to discuss the latest progress in their common goal. It will be an ambitious double spacecraft mission to deflect an asteroid in space, to prove the technique is a viable method of planetary defence. Queen guitarist and astrophysicist Brian May explained how the mission would be conducted using the might of NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and other asteroid specialists. He said: “HERA is going to show us no one has ever seen before. “This ESA mission will be humanities first-ever spacecraft to visit a double asteroid, Didymos. “This asteroid is typical of the thousands that pose an impact risk to our planet. “Imagine a mountain in the sky with another rock about the size of the great pyramid swinging around it, that is Didymos. https://i.imgur.com/FJeFjJe.jpg ▲ The UK and USA are set to team up for a joint mission for asteroid deflection (Image: ESA) https://i.imgur.com/HGkPYnV.jpg ▲ The mission will great allow space agencies to know how to calculate the density of asteroids (Image: ESA) “Just the seemingly tiny moon would be big enough to destroy a city if it were to collide with the Earth. “But we are going to find out if it is possible to deflect it.” He added: “HERA is led by a multinational team of scientists and engineers. “Right now all we have is many years and theories but HERA will revolutionise our understanding of asteroids and how to protect ourselves from them. https://i.imgur.com/5kVm9wr.jpg ▲ NASA will slam its DART spacecraft into the smaller asteroid (Image: ESA) “Then ESA comes in, HERA will map the impact crater left by DART and measure the mass of the asteroid. “Knowing this mass is key to determining what is inside and knowing for certain whether we would be able to deflect it. “Next come our briefcase-sized CubeSats, if you think of HERA like an aeroplane, cubists will operate more like drones. https://i.imgur.com/ruPhagL.jpg ▲ The ESA spacecraft HERA will then map the crater and gather crucial data (Image: ESA) “They will be able to take more risks by flying closer to the asteroid and carrying state of the art science instruments before then touching down.” Space X CEO Elon Musk admitted Earth had no defence against impending asteroid threats as he responded to Express.co.uk's Apophis 'God of Chaos' asteroid story. The billionaire CEO issued his chilling assessment after responding to friend Joe Rogan who shared the asteroid story from the Express.co.uk website. Musk tweeted: “Great name! Wouldn’t worry about this particular one, but a big rock will hit Earth eventually and we currently have no defence.” 文章來源: https://bit.ly/2kqh4DB 行星防禦任務耶！感覺好帥，像是小說裡會出現的東西，小弟我英文很爛(比Google翻譯 爛那種)，就不翻譯了，抱歉 ---- Sent from BePTT on my HTC 10 --

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